Where The Missing Go by Emma Rowley

18th October 2018 Uncategorised

THE BLURB

MY NAME IS KATE.

I volunteer at a missing persons helpline – young people who have run away from home call me and I pass on messages to their loved ones, no questions asked.

I don’t get many phone calls, and those I do are usually short and vague, or pranks.

But today a girl named Sophie called.

I’m supposed to contact her parents to let them know their child is safe.

The problem is, Sophie isn’t safe.

AND SOPHIE IS MY DAUGHTER.

WHERE THE MISSING GO – EMMA ROWLEY

Wow. What a book.

As a mother this book plays into my worse fears. The fear that you never quite know your child. The you don’t know what’s going on in their lives. That they could and would, one day run away.

That’s exactly what has happened to Kate whose daughter Sophie ran away from home two years earlier. Sophie has done everything she can to make her mother know that she is ok and to let her go. Deep in her heart though, Kate just knows that something is not right. Then one night Sophie rings in to the helpline where she volunteers. A helpline which lets runaways safely reach out to their families to let them know they are safe. Kate knows her daughter though, and while her words tell her she is safe, what Kate hears in her baby’s voice is fear.

Where The Missing Go follows her as Kate desperately tries to get people to listen to her fears. The police, her family, even her GP. It seems though that everyone wants to move on with their lives, including her husband.

I loved this book. The story grips you from the start and the pace keeps you gripped through every page. Set in three parts, the first lays down the ground work as you come to understand Kate as a character, the history of what happened and the complexities of the relationships in the aftermath of Sophie’s leaving. However, it’s in the second part where things start to really pick up the pace and the slight uneasiness you feel over the entire situation develops down a far darker path as you find out that there is indeed more to this story.

I tried to guess the twists – as I always do – but I have to admit that I didn’t see this one until I was staring straight at it. Bravo Rowley. You had me fooled more than once.